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I have been drinking for a while now, but for the first time, it's interfering with his studies. In the past, when he's got into a bit of trouble, he'd taper, but he's been unable to this time.

He's got finals coming up next week, and if he aces them, he'll do adequately well this semseter. But he doubts that he'll be able to without help, so he's considering going to Uni. Health and trying to get some meds.

Honesty is the best policy here. A Certain Mouse would go with option 1. Librium (chlordiazepoxide) is the best bet for alcohol withdrawals on a controlled tapering regime - it has a nice long half-life (anywhere from 5-30 hours), is a relatively weak benzo which shouldn't affect SWiY functioning too much, & is vey effective at fooling the cns into thinking it has alcohol in it. Plus, if Uni Health have it on record that SWiY have been struggling but have taken measures to address the issue then there's all the more chance that SWiY may get a bit of leeway if the worst happens & the exams don't go too well!

SWIM's a bit concerned about the psych appt. He's worried about possible commitment (kinda ruins the point of tapering for finals). He feels the best way to avoid this is:

1. NO ALCOHOL! Even though he hasn't filled them yet, if I were an M.D., I'd be worried that SWIM might combine V+alc. I'd surely take a BAC from the bloodwork, and I'd probably have the pysch take another. Showing up with booze on board would be QUITE bad, I think.
2. Don't overplay the symptoms. I should keep it focused on how much he wants to get clean and ace the finals. SWIM suspects they'll press hard to get him to commit to rehab after (outpatient)? SWIM obviously had to be mostly honest about use to get adequate meds.

Any more advice on how to keep breathing free air? SWIM thanks in advance.

EDIT: total cost of medical attention = $300 U.S. SWIM's inclined to pay this out-of-pocket; that the benefits of keeping this info confidential outweighs the cash outlay. Concur?

congrats on deciding to clean up a bit before swiy's work is affected to a serious point.

when swim cuts out alcohol it helps to keep busy, presumably work will keep You busy but also consider social life, perhaps with buddies who are not likely to only enjoy drinking-related activities. I would feel so good when she had a good time sans alcohol... also, yoga and meditation are great - so is exercise in general. another I used st john's wort and found it helpful.

perhaps better to see the psych appointment as something to be openminded about. I had to see a psych for the "multimodal approach to chronic pain" thing and she really wasn't keen to go but ended up finding it really useful in general to decrease anxiety.

and like you said, never combine alchohol with valium. can't stress strongly enough.

I would tend to concur. Alcohol is a fun drug, but due to its toxic effects on the liver and brain, it's a hell of a drug to pick up a habit on. In some ways, I would've been better off with an opiate habit.

I am happy to report that (as of 12:00 PM Sunday) he's completed his detox. He went to the doc on Mon, and got 10X10mg Valium. He took 20mg about an hour later (10 just didn't cut it) and slept for the first time in 60 hrs.

He slowly tapered, using the V sparingly (only when he needed to sleep or cut the nausea enough to eat) and on Thur, seemed to be finished.

Then he had the bright idea to have "just one or two" to celebrate. This turned into 14 or so and got him in a bit of legal trouble. After being released mid Fri, he had three stiff V+Ts to cut the hangover, and decided to "cold turkey" it because he thought that he no longer had a habit.

BIG mistake. While waiting for his 5AM bus back home, one patron accused him of tweaking. As there was no bar (or even frigging mouthwash) in the terminal, I tried to score alc off of likely sources, to no avail.

The seven hours it took him to get home were pretty hellacious, although the W/Ds began to subside around 10AM. Upon getting home, I took another 20mg (so that he could eat) and then went to sleep for 22 straight hours.

I took another 10 upon awakening and seems to have completed the kick. I would like to think he's done with booze, but who knows? Because of school and legal troubles, it might be in SWIM's best interests to do some inpatient time.

Incidentally, SWIM looked over his bloodwork and had cause for alarm: his ALT and GGC (GGT?) were high: ALT47; GGC85, for those who have any idea what that means (they're liver enzymes).